Derivation of epithelial-like cells from eyelid fat-derived stem cells in thermosensitive hydrogel

Injectable hydrogel is one of the great interests for tissue engineering and cell encapsulation. In the study, the thermosensitive chitosan/gelatin/β-glycerol phosphate (C/G/GP) disodium salt hydrogels were designed and investigated by different analyses. The eye fat-derived stem cells were used to evaluate the biocompatibility of hydrogels based on their phenotypic profile, viability, proliferation, and attachment ability. The results show that the sol/gel transition temperature of the C/G/GP hydrogel was in the range of 31.1-33.8 °C at neutral pH value, the gelation time was shortened, and the gel strength also improved at body temperature when compared with the C/GP hydrogel. In vitro cell culture experiments with eyelid fat-derived stem cells in hydrogel showed beneficial effects on the cell phenotypic morphology, proliferation, and differentiation. Microscopic figures showed that the eyelid fat stem cell were firmly anchored to the substrates and were able to retain a normal stem cell phenotype. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) and real-time-PCR results revealed change in the expression profile of eyelid fat stem cells grown with hydrogels when compared to those grown on control in epithelial induction condition. This study indicates that using chitosan/gelatin/β-glycerol phosphate hydrogel for cell culture is feasible and may apply in minimal invasive surgery in the future.